Up From the Ashes
by CheaterCheaterCupcakeEater
Summary: Arriving at Ouran with new memories to make and a mission to accomplish, three girls that are presumed dead stir up a commotion literally every where they go. Meeting the Host Club changes their lives, but is it for better or worse?
1. The Burned

**CheaterCheaterCupcakeEater: Hi y'all! Well, this is gonna be my first story ever for an anime (or really on this particular account). So, I'm gonna be working with pinkfire101, one of my besties :) So, review, review, review! Let us know how you like it so we can fix what is wrong and keep what is working! Thanks!**

**pinkfire101:You for got about lizbethFREAKINGpaige. But yes PLEASE COMMENT AND I"LL BAKE YOU 100 COOKIES!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Ouran High School Host Club. We won't say we do. That wouldn't be too bright.**

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><p>The music from the club could be heard from a mile away. The top Russian club hits were playing constantly, the walls shaking to the beat. A tall man with his long blond hair and cold, menacing green eyes strolled up to the club. He waited in line with everyone else, to appear inconspicuous, to get into the newly opened club, whose name translated into "Dusk" or "Sunset." The establishment had only been opened a few days before when the man had gotten a text from an anonymous person, who said to meet him, or her, on this day. They had threatened him with knowledge of his business secrets, he could remember it, and all the events leading to his arrival, clearly.<p>

_Flashback_

_"What do you mean, you haven't found anything?" he yelled at the large man in front of him. The man almost cowered, but then seemed to realize that would make whatever punishment he would receive worse._

_"I haven't found anything, sir. I've searched everywhere. They can't possibly be alive. People don't just vanish, sir," the man said, hoping it would be a sufficient excuse, but expecting the worst._

_The blonde paused, and the other man let a small ray of hope shine through, that maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have to be worried for his or his family's safety that night._

_"Well," the green-eyed one started quietly, "It looks like you have not been trying your best. They are alive, I am certain of it. They have not vanished, they have simply evaded my below standard worker." He paused to smirk lopsidedly and lower his eyes. "But if you disagree, you are dismissed."_

_The other man gasped in response, but knew that when he was dismissed, there was no way around it. The only thing he could do now was get home as quickly as he could and go on vacation. He strode off, leaving the blonde standing in the room rubbing his temples._

_His one moment of silence is interrupted by the buzz of his phone. Only a select few had his phone number, and they all knew what would happen should they let his number to anyone._

_When he opened the text, he discovered that the text was from a number he didn't recognize. All it said was, "Meet us at 'Dusk' tomorrow at 9. Bring the envelope with you."_

_"What envelope?" he mumbled to himself as he reread the text. Just then, there was a tentative knock on the door. "Yes?"_

_"Sir, an envelope was dropped off. I was told to bring it to you," a tall man said respectfully. The blond snatched it out of his hand, reading the small black lettering on the front._

_"Get out!" he shouted when he realized that the other man had not left. The man all but ran for the exit._

_The envelope was addressed to a name he had not seen before. Even so, he tore open the flap and emptied it of its contents._

_"Give this to the bouncer," the top of the page read. "He'll tell you where to go and what to do. Follow his instructions."_

_End of Flashback_

He was brought out of his flashback by a vibration in his pocket. He pulled out the small device, his eyes skimming the text.

"Go to the bouncer. Give him the envelope. Now."

Although he was not usually one to follow directions, he did exactly as the text said, and approached the bouncer. The larger man crossed his huge arms and lowered his beady eyes to look at him.

"I was instructed to give you this," the blonde said, making sure he stood up straight and maintained eye contact. After all, he was above him in social standing.

The bouncer held out one meaty hand, and the blonde handed the envelope over. He read over the papers and then gave the other man what was probably supposed to be a smile.

"They're at the bar. Three girls. You won't miss them," he stated in a monotone voice. As the green-eyed man walked away, he swore he could hear the bouncer chuckle darkly.

He navigated through the throngs of people, watching out to make sure he didn't run into one of the many girls holding a fruity drink in a dangerously loose grip. Finally, he saw the bar, bathed in a bluish light whose source he could not pinpoint.

Leaning on the bar were three girls, close to each others sides and conversing quietly. The farthest one on the left was tan-skinned, with black hair that looked blue and purple when it caught the light. She was short, barely over five feet, and dressed in long dark jeans and a black shirt with slashes across the chest and sleeves. On the right side was a taller girl, with long caramel colored hair and a glowing olive skin tone. She wore a short, skin tight purple dress, with holes cut out in the sleeves and folds in the seams, complimenting her already slim figure. And lastly, there was the shortest girl in the middle. She had brown hair with a red tint that was just a bit longer than the girl to her left, and was ghostly pale. Her dress was short and strapless, the color a very dark red with hints of blacks in the folds.

They looked like regular party-goers.

"Excuse me," he started, making sure his words came out smooth and gentlemanly. "Are you the people I was supposed to meet here?"

The redhead smiled, almost sweetly. "Why yes, yes you are. You left us waiting, you know." She tilted her head to the side, and for a second, her eyes flashed something other then the clear blue being displayed to him now.

"Oh my apologies, Miss," he said, bowing his head slightly. "Now, did you three desire a drink?"

"We don't drink," the tan-skinned one said.

"But thanks for the offer," the one in the purple dress added, with a genuine smile.

"Oh, it's fine, I understand," he responded, and paused for a moment, unsure how to continue. "Why did you want to meet me here, in this particular club?"

"We _own _this club," Purple Dress informed him.

"We would like to talk to you... But privately. In the back room, perhaps?" Redhead suggested, her eyelashes fluttering up at him.

"Why, of course, if that is what you wish," he answered, smirking crookedly.

"Well then, follow us," Tan Skin suggested as the three walked past. He followed them to a bright red door, and Redhead held it open for. He was about to take the door from her and thank her, when suddenly, there was nothing at all.

He woke up trapped to a chair in a vast, empty space.

"Whaaa..." he trailed off, knowing he would be incoherent.

"This will be very, very simple if you just tell us what we want to know," a small, but somehow frightening voice said. He looked around to see Redhead, with her blue eyes, less than two inches from his face. He flinched, almost knocking the chair over completely.

"T-t-tell you what?" he stuttered.

"Don't play dumb! We know who you are!" Tan Skin exclaimed, appearing at his other side.

"We're the ones you've been looking for this whole time," Purple Dress said slowly, her arms crossed.

"I knew it!" the blonde haired man burst out. "Just wait until the others find out! You, all of you, are so dead!" He tried to move around in his chair, looking around at the three girls, realizing they looked younger now than they had in the club.

"If they find out," Redhead said with an evil grin and a small, childish giggle.

"What do you mean?" the captive questioned, as if the reality of the situation had only just become clear to him.

"Tell us what we want to know, and we _might _consider letting you leave. On our conditions of course," Tan Skin said.

"I refuse to tell you anything!" he shouted, his voice bouncing off the walls. Purple Dress and Redhead both looked at Tan Skin. She came up close and kicked just above his ankle, hard. There was an awful snap noise that echoed through the room. His scream that followed came back to them for a few minutes, and the girls watched him as he hung his head and breathed heavily.

"Okay," he murmured. "Okay! What do you want to know?" He raised his head, his eyes showing anger and pain.

"Who killed them?" The voice came from Tan Skin.

"I'm not telling you!" This response was answered with another kick, in the same spot. He screamed again, and the girls waited patiently once more.

"It was The Boss," he sobbed, almost choking on the word.

"Who is The Boss?" The voice came in front of him now. He didn't bother looking up.

"We never got to see his or her face. All we did was follow orders." His voice sounded flat now, any and all hope removed from it. Even if he did get out, he wouldn't last long. The Boss would surely find out about this incident. It would be considered betrayal, treason.

"All of you follow orders from someone you've never seen the face of?" The question came from his left, meaning it must be Redhead.

"Firecracker," Tan Skin said in a reproachful tone. There was a small sigh.

"If you can't tell us who The Boss is, can you at least tell us where our remaining members are?"

"They're in Japan," he answered without even thinking.

"Where in Japan?" All three of them chimed in this time, all equally demanding.

"I don't know."

"How do you know they're in Japan?" Redhead questioned this time. There was a strange silence after this question, like hesitation.

"It's the only information they've given me about their location. They're going by the last name Aoki," he explained.

"Grey Hacker!" Purple Dress and Redhead yelled.

"On it," she answered. She had pulled out a small portable laptop, and the only sound that filled the room was the captive's heavy breathing and tapping of the keys.

"The only possible match is at Ouran Academy," she informed them after thirty seconds of intense typing.

"Firecracker, get the device!" Purple Dress ordered.

"Which one?" Redhead asked. It had never occurred to him to inquire on their names. They were pretty cunning.

"Your pick."

"Awesome!" she exclaimed, not unlike a little kid in a candy store. It sounded as if she had skipped out of the room.

The blonde man looked up to see both of the girls staring at him. He couldn't help but allow his face to break out in an evil grin. He wasn't going to survive, even if they did let him go. The Boss would kill him. He no longer cared what happened next.

"They deserved it, you know. They were absolutely _pathetic._ It was a favor to the three of you."

He hadn't even seen them move, but suddenly they had guns pointed to his head.

"Red Rose!" Tan Skin whined, dragging out the "o" sound. "I want to do it!"

"Grey Hacker, it's my turn," she snapped. They glared at each other for a few seconds.

"Oh no, Firecracker's gonna be back soon. You know how she feels about this. How about we both just do it at the same time?" They both nodded at that.

"One..." They said in unison.

"Two..." He couldn't help but notice neither of them shook in any way, hands or voices.

"Three!" He closed his eyes tight.

The redhead walked back into the room a second too late. She saw the mess, and her eyes widened.

"What did I tell you guys about doing this? It's wrong! You're going to go to Hell!" she yelled.

"At least then I can torture the bastards more," said the tallest of the three. The redhead glared. Then, she sighed, not being able to stay too angry for too long.

"I'll get the matches... and the gasoline..." she mumbled, going back the way she came. She returned in a matter of minutes with a red container of gas and a box of matches.

"Okay, ready?" The redhead asked the three of them as they stood outside the building, and she got ready to lit the match. They all knew they had to run as soon as she let go.

"We're ready," they both replied.

"Run!" the smallest of them yelled as they ran as fast as they could to the car, which they had parked a safe distance away. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened.

"So Ouran Academy, huh?" the tallest of them asked, as she and the shortest looked at the tannest, who was driving.

"Yup. That's our next destination. We have to go home, get our bags, and get the next flight out," she told them. They both nodded.

All three of them watched as the smoke curled into the sky like twisted fingers. That was the smoke of the memories of what had happened so far, here in Russia. They were off, again to their next destination, and to the next step on the path to the people they had lost.

It was at Ouran Academy that the new memories would be made, and quite possibly, burned.

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><p><strong>CheaterCheaterCupcakeEater: Soo yeah! The story actually starts moving next chapter, and we'll be working on it! :D Review pretty please!<strong>


	2. Livin' So Divine

**CheaterCheaterCupcakeEater: So this is chapter two! We'd really appreciate it if you review the story if you like it, because it motivates us to write... Which if you like it... You should want us to do... and yeah! Things start moving a little in this chapter :)**

**pinkfire101: Well we did spend hours working on this one chapter last night... So REVIEW! Oh, and Lizbeth says hi :) On to the story!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own anything, except our OC's :)**

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><p>"Okay, now remember, Natalia, you're going to be going by Hotaru Kokawa," the tan-skinned girl informed the only slightly shorter redhead. She frowned but said nothing. "Bella, you are now Kiyumi Ando," she said to the tallest girl, whose expression did not change. "And if you need me, ask for Tsukiko Sakura."<p>

"I liked my old name..." Natalia, now known as Hotaru, whined.

"It doesn't _blend_. We have to do everything we can to remain inconspicuous for as long as possible," the girl formerly called Bella explained softly.

"Besides, you _know_ Aria was my mother's name as well. Don't you think I want to keep that too?" Tsukiko told her, trying not to sound harsh, but coming off slightly cold on accident.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Hotaru told her, trying to prevent the argument that would surely happen without intervention.

The bell began to ring for class, so the trio said their good-byes and promised to meet each other in the same spot by the fountain after school as long as nothing else came up, and to contact each other if that did happen.

_Hotaru's Point of View_

I walked into class as the tardy bell rang. All the students were in their seats, and I was standing awkwardly at the front of the room. With a sigh I walked over to the teachers desk and sat on the edge of it.

I busied myself with studying my faded jeans and thinking of the meeting my adopted sisters, "Kiyumi" and "Tsukiko", and I had with the chairman earlier that morning.

_Flashback_

"_Good morning, girls," Chairman Suoh greeted us cheerfully. My first impression of the man was that he was far too happy to be up so early in the morning._

"_Good morning, Chairman," we said back in unison._

"_I wanted to see you three this morning to tell you that we expect nothing but excellence from you. You must each remain in the top five of your class, and there must be absolutely no disciplinary issues with you," he informed us, his voice serious. He seemed strangely out of character._

"_Sir..." I spoke up, trying to put on a cuter voice. "I was wondering... Because we can't afford uniforms... Can we just wear our normal clothes, as long as they are appropriate?" I questioned, allowing my eyes to be wide open and my voice to sound innocent._

"_Oh, of course, dears! It won't be a problem. Just let me know if there's anything else you need and I'll see what we can do for you here, okay?" he half-shouted. I smiled with the knowledge that my strategy had worked. He was just a bit too loud for my liking, though._

"_Thank you very much," Tsukiko said politely, and I could tell that she liked how loud he was about as much as I did._

"_Not a problem, not a problem. Now go, explore the campus before the bell rings. Each of you will be in the A classes of your respective grades. Just ask the receptionist for a map on your way out. Take care now, have a great first day!" he exclaimed as we walked out of his office, gently closing the door behind us and looking at each other, knowing we all thought the same thing._

_End of Flashback_

"Didn't your commoner parents raise you better than to sit on your sensei's desk?" I heard two voices that sounded exactly the same ask me. My head snapped up as everything seemed to come to a stop.

Standing before me were the twin brothers Tsukiko had forced me to research, Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin. Their matching red hair and gold eyes made it nearly impossible to tell them apart. But still... There was a difference between them that I couldn't explain.

But at that moment, those thoughts weren't the ones that were loudest. Instead were the things I wanted to say, like, "You mean my dead parents?" and "The ones I only got to know for six years?"

I knew something in my face must have changed because their expressions had shifted from mischievous to remorseful. I felt my fists clenching and my eyes narrowing as they began to open their mouths to speak.

"I am so sorry about them, Miss," said a brown-haired boy. Well, he was dressed like a boy, but had very girlish features. I didn't get a chance to answer before the teacher had walked in.

"Everyone take your seats," she announced as she walked in, obviously flustered. She had a few books, lots of papers, and a cup of coffee in her arms. When she finally got everything put down on her desk she turned and looked at me.

"Hello," she said, smiling warmly. "You, you, you must be my new, my new..." After a few seconds of stammering, I grinned at her and then turned to the class to introduce myself.

"I am the new student, Hotaru Kokawa."

And then the room exploded with noise.

"Aren't you that commoner girl?"

"What are you wearing?"

"Is it true that your hair isn't naturally that color?"

"Why does your sister have a different skin color?"

"St-st-students!" Sensei yelled. "One at a time, she will call on you so that you can get it out of your system." I nodded, as if my opinion in the matter would have really made a difference.

"Um... You?" I pointed to a girl in the front row because she was the first one I saw.

"Are you a leprechaun?" she asked and smiled in a way that I was sure was supposed to be sweet, but her body language and tone of voice were just enough to let me know that even though I hadn't talked to her before, she had already grown to dislike me.

"Next question," I responded quickly and pointed in a random direction.

"Are you as smart as they say you are?" a boy questioned me with an extremely snobby voice. I bit my lip, giving myself a second to consider if I should really be sarcastic back.

"Are you as smart as you think you are?" Apparently, my mouth was way ahead of me.

"Sensei!" "The Snob" exclaimed. I grinned as I looked over at her.

"Um, wh-what?" She looked over at him over her cup of coffee, oblivious.

"Didn't you hear the commoner?" he asked incredulously.

"Hear what?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. When the boy shook his head, she looked up at me. "You can go sit down in that empty seat in the back now, Hotaru." I smiled at her and nodded and then did my best to make it look like I wasn't trying to get there as fast as possible.

I leaned far back in my seat and pulled a lollipop from a pocket in my bag. I looked up at the lesson the teacher was starting, noticing it was something I'd already gone over. I was busy looking out the window and playing with my lollipop when all of a sudden, I saw a blur of white come into my view and hit me in the nose. I cupped my hands in my lap and caught the piece of paper.

_My first day of school, and I'm getting notes?_ I thought to myself. _I feel special._

I smoothed out the paper as quietly as I could, holding each end and rubbing it across the end of the desk. I then laid it flat on the desk and used the heel of my hand to get it as flat as possible. Once all this was done, I squinted my eyes as I tried to read the scribble.

"You may be the new girl, so you get attention now, but remember, you're a COMMONER. You're not worth the time people are wasting on you, even now."

I felt a smile pulling at the corners of my lips. At the time, it all felt like a game. This was just another little obstacle for me.

I folded the paper as neatly as I could and pulled slowly at the edges, filling the silent room with a loud tearing noise. The teacher turned around and glanced at me, then at the clock just behind me. Half the class looked at me, but I just smiled and twisted my lollipop around in my mouth.

"Okay class, time for a ten minute break. And Hotaru, could you come up here please?" the sensei announced to the class. "I'm going to assign somebody to show you around a little and get you all caught up, alright?" she told me when I got up there. I nodded. "Haruhi Fujioka?" she called. The boy from earlier came up to stand beside me.

"Yes sensei?" he asked respectfully.

"I'd like you to show Miss Hotaru around while you can, and maybe help her with any class work if she needs it." She looked back and forth at us, then clapped her hands together and beamed. "I know! Haruhi, you can be partnered with Hotaru for the rest of the year for group projects instead of having to be an odd group with the twins!" she explained excitedly.

"Sure sensei, that'd be fine with me," he told the woman. The woman nodded and walked out, mumbling incoherently about coffee and rich teenagers.

"So Hotaru, you and your sisters got here on scholarship too?" Haruhi asked, turning to me.

"Yes, Kiyumi's a second year and Tsukiko's a third year," I informed her.

"Oh, it must be nice to not be the only new person here, right?"

"Yeah, this way the focus isn't all on me," I answered.

"Well, do you have anything to do after school? I might have a way for the three of you to meet new people," she suggested. "That is, if you want to."

"I'd love to meet new people and I don't have anything to do, but I can't speak for my sisters," I told her.

"Well, have you ever heard of the Host Club?"

_Kiyumi's Point of View_

"Really, I told you, I don't have a phone, and I'd prefer it if you left me alone!" I exclaimed at the three guys from the C Class following behind me. Just then, my phone went off.

_I swear I put it on vibrate!_ I thought frantically to myself.

"So, you don't have a phone, huh?" the tallest of the three guys asked, towering over me.

"It's for emergencies!" I attempted to explain. "I'm not allowed to give that number out!" I kept backing up, knowing I'd have to be coming up on a wall soon. I wasn't even in the building. I'd been so distracted by trying to get away from these men, that I hadn't even realized that I'd exited the building and was now around the side, surely too far away to yell for someone.

_I can't hit them,_ I realized suddenly. _I can't hit them, if I hit them, our cover is blown, and we'll have to leave. No way of getting our siblings._

Right as this realization hit me, I felt my back smack into the wall. I tried to move to my right, but one of the guys was there. To my left, was another wall, and two of the men were in front of me.

_Aw crap, this is not good,_ that annoying little voice in the back of my head told me.

"So this is what the 'gentlemen' of Class C do?" I heard a loud, forceful voice shout, followed by footsteps.

"Oh shit, it's the chairman's kid!" the tallest one yelled. They exchanged curses and took off at a sprint, leaving me leaning against the wall, bag in hand and bracing myself with the other.

"Are you alright, princess?" a blonde guy about six inches taller than me with mesmerizing purple eyes asked, looking down at me and cupping my face. I nodded, even though I was still shaking a bit.

"I have their names and know their families, if you would like something to be done about this little incident," said another boy, slightly shorter than the first with black hair and glasses that made his eyes hard to see.

I swallowed, as if that would do anything about my dry throat. "What are your names?" I could hear my voice crack a little. If my throat was that dry, were my lips chapped? Did my skin look dried out too? I wanted nothing more than a mirror and my makeup kit right then.

"My name is Tamaki Suoh, President of the Ouran High School Host Club and this is my dearest of friends, Kyoya Ootori, he is the Vice President," Tamaki announced dramatically.

"I'm Kiyumi Ando," I told them, holding my hand out for a shake and attempting a smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kiyumi-hime," Tamaki murmured, taking my hand and instead of shaking it, pulling it up to his lips.

I could have been a puddle at his feet right then and there.

"I don't mean to interrupt," Kyoya started, "but we need to get to class if we do not wish to draw too much attention to ourselves. That is what you wish, isn't it, Kiyumi?"

"Y-yes," I replied, pulling myself out of my little stupor.

"We'll show you the way back," Kyoya told me. I followed them through the pink halls in a stunned silence.

We walked through the door, and while Kyoya quietly walked off and slipped into his seat, Tamaki stayed beside me and caught the sensei's attention.

"Sensei, we have a new student, Miss Kiyumi Ando."

That certainly caught everyone's attention.

"Why did she show up with Tamaki?"

"Why are they late?"

"Why is he with a commoner girl?"

"How could they possibly know each other?"

"How could this happen?"

The inquiries got steadily more and more panicked, and within a minute I felt like I was drowning in them. The sensei hadn't done anything to stop the noise just yet, but I was hoping that he was telepathic and could get that I was mentally screaming at him to _please_ make them all shut up.

"Class," the sensei boomed. "Quiet. Kiyumi, you can take the seat right here, in front."

_Today is going to be terrible_, I couldn't help but think.

"You should come by Music Room Number 3 after school. There's a club meeting, and you're definitely invited."

_Tsukiko's Point of View_

I had my nose buried in my map, following it to my class the best I could. I was always the one that got us where we needed to go because Hotaru and Kiyumi weren't very good with directions. What I didn't understand was how I could navigate streets whose names I could not read, but I could not figure out how to get around a large high school!

"Maybe I should turn around..." I mumbled to myself. I felt myself hit someone then, and instead of falling on them I started falling backward, helpless. I had just opened my mouth to let out a yelp when I was caught, my head about a foot from the ground. I gasped for breath as I looked up to see who it was that caught me.

I looked right into a pair of amazing grey eyes that were trained emotionlessly on me, and were also set in a stoic voice. Even bent over he looked huge, like he had to be at least six feet tall.

"Are you okay?" he asked me softly in a low, rumbling voice. I gulped as I came to my sense and mentally went over his profile.

This man's name was Takashi Morinozuka. He was skilled in martial arts and was very close to his cousin, Mitsukuni Honinozuka.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine," I answered as I snapped back to reality. I put a hand on his shoulder and steadied myself so that I was standing up straight. We looked at each other for a moment as we straightened up, silent as neither of us knew what to say.

"Takashi!" I heard a cute little voice call out. It brought back the memory of my adopted sisters and I when we were little. Our parents had taken all of us kids to the beach. Hotaru, or Natalia as we still called her then, was the youngest and would go between sitting with Kiyumi, then known as Bella, and I, and sitting with all of our younger siblings: her younger sister, my two younger brothers, and Bella's two little sisters.

Our parents sat under three umbrellas, happily laughing and alternating between talking to each other and watching their children. All was well, everyone was safe.

The image shifted to that night, while I crammed Bella and Natalia behind me in a closet and tried to keep them from crying as we heard the mean people that had broken into our house drag our parents off as they screamed and cried and begged. We all heard gunshots, and I did the best I could to cover their ears to help block it out, but I couldn't cover their eyes from the blood splatter and once the silence started, it just seemed to go on and on forever.

All we could think after that was that it wasn't fair that our parents had grabbed us three and put us in the closet and put our siblings somewhere else. Later, while they were searching for what they had broken into the house for, we were found.

Everything that happened since that night flashed before me in a matter of seconds and brought me full circle to where we were today when I heard the little voice shout, "Hi! I'm Mitsukuni Honinozuka, and this is Takashi Morinozuka, but you can call us Honey and Mori! What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Tsukiko Sakura and it's nice to meet the both of you," I responded with a smile as I silently went over the facts I knew about Honey. He was an eighteen year old, third year student. He was supposedly even better at martial arts than his cousin, Mori, and he had a love for sweets.

"Well, we should get you to class, Tsuki-chan!" Honey exclaimed brightly as his cousin remained silent. "But I have one question for you before we go!"

"What is it, Honey?" I inquired in the same voice I used when I talked to small children.

"Do you like cake?" His eyes grew large as he looked up at me expectantly.

"Yes, I love cake!"

"Good, meet us in Music Room Number Three after school today, we have lots of cake!"

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><p><strong>In case you didn't read the author's note up there, if you like it or want us to change something, REVIEW, because it motivates and makes us smile :) WE ALL LIKE SMILES! :D So yeah. Hope you enjoyed it, REVIEW! :D<strong>


	3. If You Run

**CheaterCheaterCupcakeEater: Soo, here's chapter 3! :) Yup, it's in third person point of view, and it's going to switch back and forth throughout the story. To those of you that reviewed, THANKS! :D It really does mean a lot to us :) KEEP IT UP!**

**pinkfire101: So... Just this author note took us ten minutes because it kept deleting itself... BE GRATEFUL AND REVIEW :D**

**Disclaimer: We only own our OC's. That's it.**

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><p>The three girls walked to their destination from separate starting points, completely unaware that they would all soon be arriving at the same place. They all had their matching phones pulled out, each texting the other two to let them know where they would be.<p>

Just then, they all collided as they came to the door of the room they had all been directed to, youngest girl in the middle with her older counterparts on either side.

"Hotaru!" the older girls whispered sternly at the same time.

"I'm sorry!" Hotaru exclaimed at the same volume.

"What are you doing here?" they asked her, again in unison.

"Fujioka invited me," she informed them.

"Look Hotaru, a penny!" the oldest girl, Tsukiko, told her. Over the stooping girl's head, Tsukiko and the other older girl, Kiyumi, mouthed, _Fujioka?_ at each other. They both knew the name sounded familiar, but Hotaru would have been too young to remember it.

"There was no penny..." Hotaru said in a disappointed tone when she popped back up.

"I'm sorry, it must have been my eyes playing tricks on me," Tsukiko apologized.

"Why are you two here?" Hotaru questioned.

"Two nice classmates invited me," Kiyumi said, looking down at her perfectly filed nails.

"Yeah, same," Tsukiko chimed in.

"Well..." Hotaru started. "If we were all invited... Might as well go in together!"

They all three opened the door together, just like they'd been opening the doors to all the opportunities presented to them their whole lives.

First, they were showered in rose petals.

"I'm allergic to rose petals!" Hotaru screamed, plastering a look of sheer terror on her face.

"Stop the petals! Stop them now!" a panicked voice yelled. Two identical redheads started jumping around, trying to catch the rose petals before they hit the girl, who ducked and tried to pull her light sweater over her head.

Then, a strong arm pulled all three girls out of the way, two of which looked confused. The third, and the oldest, looked to be in a daze. He released them as soon as they were out of the way of the dangerous petals.

"Princess, are you okay?" a tall blonde teenage boy with purple eyes asked the redhead, his hand cupping her face.

"I was kidding," she said, in a tone different from the sweet one she used on people most of the time. Then, she snapped her head to her right to bite his hand.

"You tried to bite me!" he screeched. "Mommy, protect me from this ferocious girl!"

"There, there," a guy with black hair and glasses that made it impossible to see his eyes said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You mean, you were joking?" One of the redheaded twins asked.

"That's not a funny joke," the other finished.

"Well, you see, I taught you a very valuable lesson. What if I had truly been allergic to rose petals? What if, somehow, in my state of shock in being face to face with something potentially dangerous to my health, I had left my mouth open and one of the rose petals fell into it, causing me to go into anaphylactic shock? What then? It would have compromised your little club, and I would have grounds to sue you for putting me in such danger. Did you ever consider that?" the small girl lectured them, as they all just stared down at her blankly.

"Hotaru... Quit playing around," Tsukiko scolded lightly, with a slight smile on her face. She didn't want to admit it, but the fact that a small, "harmless" fifteen year old girl had the capability to completely confuse seven teenage boys, both her age and older, was very amusing to her.

"But... It's fun... And easy..." Hotaru complained, her voice going back to the one that was cute and innocent.

"Hotaru," Tsukiko warned again. The other girl did not respond. "It wasn't very nice to scare them like that, you really should apologize."

"I have no desire to apologize to _them_," Hotaru mumbled, glancing over at the twins. Her voice had gone to something a far cry from cute.

"Hotaru!" Tsukiko scolded, almost at a shout now, and much more harsh than before. She then launched into a lecture about how to talk to other people, what she should say when she was alone, at least, and how if she was wrong about something she should always apologize.

"Hey, um, don't you think that's a little... harsh?" The boy Tsukiko remembered to be the eldest twin, Hikaru, asked a little nervously.

"Yes, a princess shouldn't argue with another princess," the blonde, Tamaki, said at another attempt to be princely.

"Oh shut up and mind your own business," Tsukiko snapped, but she did stop scolding the younger girl.

"You guys! Calm the eff down!" Kiyumi exclaimed at them. The group turned to look at her as if they had forgotten she was there.

"Princess! It is good to see you again," Tamaki said smoothly, smiling over at her. Kiyumi only answered with a blush.

"Come on, Tsuki-chan! There's cake over this way!" Honey suddenly shouted, grabbing Tsukiko's hand and pulling her over to a round table filled with cake platters.

"Come along, princess, I'm sure you'd like to sit down and have some tea for a while," Tamaki suggested to Kiyumi, holding on to her hand and leading her over to a vacant couch.

Hotaru stood for a moment with Kyoya and the twins, not having been introduced to this boy just yet.

"What's your name?" she questioned in a childish tone.

"Kyoya Ootori," he answered flatly. "And you're Hotaru Kokawa."

"Yes, yes I am," she replied. She stopped and tilted her head to the side as she watched him scribble away in a small black book.

"What are you writing?" she inquired innocently.

"Facts and numbers."

"Really? Are you sure that's not a diary?" she asked with a small giggle. He snapped the book shut, and obviously put a lot of effort in controlling his expression as he looked up at her.

"I'm quite positive, Miss," he responded. That was when Hikaru and his twin Kaoru each grabbed one of her arms and dragged her to a table far away from the spot where they had been standing, sure that she was on the verge of unleashing the wrath of the Shadow King.

"Hey... Let go of me..." she whined.

"We're doing you a favor," the older twin mumbled impatiently.

They sat her down at a table where they said their other clients were, and told her to try not to act too much like a commoner.

"Ah! I burned my tongue on the tea..." Kaoru said, setting down his cup quickly and almost sloshing more of the stuff on himself.

"Oh brother, you should be much more careful, I wouldn't want you to get hurt..." Hikaru said lovingly, cupping his brother's face. The other girls sitting at the table squealed about such brotherly love. Hotaru sat with her arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

"You know, that's incest, and in some places it is illegal. And it is almost universally considered disgusting," she stated. The twins shot her equally evil glares, and the girls fell silent as if to ponder such a thought.

Meanwhile, Tsukiko was watching Honey in awe as he polished off his third cake.

"Honey, if you eat too much cake, you'll get a cavity," she warned.

"Not if I brush my teeth really well! Besides, I couldn't eat less cake! Usa-chan loves it too!" he exclaimed happily. A couple fan girls sitting on either side of Tsukiko fidgeted excitedly and shouted about how adorable he was.

"You know, I wonder if you actually like to act this way, or if you do it because of the reaction you know you will get," Tsukiko murmured, almost to herself. Honey froze and looked at her funny, and the fan girls fell silent as they considered this possibility.

At the same time, Kiyumi was with Tamaki and his one other client, carefully watching how he behaved toward her. It was the same way he had acted toward her, and it did not vary with any of the girls. He seemed genuine, but she couldn't shake the idea that if it was something he could throw around with anyone, it couldn't mean as much.

"So, you talk this way to everyone. You never vary in technique, you always do the same thing," she said, voicing her thoughts. The other girl looked at Tamaki as if her dreams had been crushed, and rushed out.

"Wait, come back!" he yelled after her, but she was already at the door. He then went and curled in a ball in his corner.

This one girl leaving seemed to cause a flood of upset girls, as they all left at the same time. The Host Club members all glared at the girls, except for Tamaki, who was still busy in his corner.

"You _will _need to pay us back for these lost customers," Kyoya informed them after a short silence. "And seeing as how you are commoners, you will not be able to simply pay off this debt. How would you like to pay it off?"

"We will not be working for you," Tsukiko answered. "We can pay you back. Just tell me the amount you need, and we can pay it."

"But you're commoners, you couldn't even afford uniforms," the twins said in unison.

"Look," said Tsukiko, pulling a checkbook out of her bag, "Just tell me the number and I'll give it to you. Or even better, I'll just give you a blank check, you fill in how much you want."

"Wait!" Hotaru exclaimed. "I wanna do some of it!"

"Hotaru..." Tsukiko trailed off.

"Come on, I've been doing it since I was thirteen, I think it's fun!"

"Fine," the eldest girl said, handing over the checkbook.

"Okay, who do I make this out to?" Hotaru asked. The stunned group gave her no answer. "Alright, 'Ouran High School Host Club' it is," she said, handing over the slip of paper. Kyoya took it out of her small hand slowly.

"Well, we really must be going now," Kiyumi said, starting to usher the other two out.

"Bye, Hikaru, Kaoru, Kyoya, Tamaki, Mori, Honey, and Miss Fujioka!" Tsukiko exclaimed before turning. Everything went still for a moment as they all turned to look at her. "Oh, crap!" she yelled

At the same moment, Kiyumi and Hotaru both screamed, "Tsukiko!" They then looked at each other, then the Host Club, and continued with, "Run!"

They tore off out of the room with the members on their heels. But when they tried to follow them farther down the hall, they found no trace of them, not even a footprint or something they could've dropped.

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	4. Pressure

**CheaterCheaterCupcakeEater: Hi again! :) Sorry this update took so long... Somebody went on vacation and made it difficult to update... But anyways! We were asked to elaborate on who's who, and pinkfire101 wants to do that. So all I have left to say right now is REVIEW! :D**

**pinkfire101: I am so very sorry for going on vacation! D: But, we're planning on posting one or two more chapters beforee the night is through! :D So, here's the rundown of who's who:**

**Hotaru: Her real name is Natalia. She's the youngest of the three, and a redhead. She tends to act sweetly :)**

**Kiyumi: Her real name is Bella. She's the middle girl. She's the tallest of the three with caramel hair. **

**Tsukiko: Her real name is Aria. She's the oldest. She's just a little bit taller than Hotaru, and the definite mother of the group, as shown in this chapter :)**

**SO ENJOY! IF YOU ENJOY, REVIEW! :D**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Ouran, just the characters we created :)**

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><p><em><strong>Hotaru's Point of View<strong>_

"What the hell were you thinking, Aria?" Bella spat as we stepped into the safety of our apartment.

"What? It was bound to happen eventually. And use our fake names from now on. There are ears everywhere," Tsukiko snapped back.

"Whatever, _Tsukiko_. You blew our cover! We're going to be apprehended tomorrow!" Kiyumi yelled before slamming the door to her room. Tsukiko mumbled under her breath as she stalked to the bathroom, her one place of privacy because she slept on the futon in the living room.

I sighed as I draged myself into the kitchen. I didn't know about the other two, but I wanted dinner, and surely neither of them was going to make it.

Tsukiko had bought ingredients for Japanese recipes that I didn't understand how to make, so I pulled out three packets of instant noodles and got them cooking in a big pot.

After a moment of debating with myself, I decided that it was probably safer to try to talk to Kiyumi first. I knocked on the door softly before opening it and poking my head in.

"Hey, Be- I mean, Kiyumi, are you hungry?" I asked timidly. Suddenly, there was a shoe flying toward my face. I swallowed a scream so that I wouldn't scare the neighbors and slammed the door shut.

I went and knocked on the door to the bathroom. "Tsukiko? I have food made, if you're hungry." I did not make the mistake of opening the door this time.

I cold hear her sigh on the other side of the door. "I don't think so, Hotaru. I'm not really hungry. "

I slouched sadly. I had always hated eating alone. "Alright," I called through the door, disappointment evident in my voice.

"Fine," Tsukiko groaned, opening the door. I felt my face light up.

"Should we leave some food outside Kiyumi's door?" I questioned. Tsukiko bit her lip in return.

"Yeah, go ahead. If she gets hungry she'll open her door and see it," the older girl replied.

We ate dinner in fifteen minutes of awkward silence. At the end, Tsukiko asked me to please get off her "bed," so I went in my room. I noticed that the bowl was missing from Kiyumi's door, and allowed a small smile for that.

After a long night of restless sleep, we prepared ourselves for the day before us. The fight from the night before was pushed aside, although it was apparent that my adopted sisters' anger was still sitting below the surface, just simmering. We couldn't allow those feelings to get in the way right now, though; more pressing matters were at hand.

"Hotaru, you're probably going to be bothered quite a bit by the twins, and possibly Haruhi herself. Don't offer any answers- they're _my _questions to answer, n ot yours," Tsukiko explained that morning. She turned to Kiyumi. "Same for you. Tamaki and Kyoya are going to want explanations, that I know for a fact."

Kiyumi and I nodded, recognizing orders when we heard them.

I went straight to my seat when I got to class that day, being careful to avoid any eye contact. I stared down at my desk, letting myself get lost in my own thoughts. I was started back into reality when two pairs of white hands slammed themselves down on my desk. I looked up at their owners slowly, tiredly.

"We need to talk," one of the twins, the one I was sure was Hikaru, started.

"It's about what you said yesterday," the other one, Kaoru, finished. i raised my eyebrows.

"Do you want to do this now? Do you really think this is the time and place for this?" I questioned softly, looking back down.

"Haruhi is our friend, and you have information that puts that friend at risk. We cannot allow a commoner like you to endanger our friend's secret," Hikaru told me, getting dangerously close to my face and lowering his voice. I met his eyes cautiously and began analyzing what he had just said. For one thing, he had been very careful to avoid referring to Haruhi's gender. I found this interesting; they weren't denying or affirming my sister's accidental accusation.

"You forget," I began quietly, not breaking eye contact, "that your friend that you are so concerned about is a commoner. Just. Like. Me. So here is my proposition for you. I will give you three seconds to get out of my face and stop making a scene, because what you are doing right now is putting your friend's secret at risk more than my sister would ever dare. If you refuse, then I will burst into tears and accuse you of threatening me, because that's what you were about to do, wasn't it?" I finished in a much lower, even tone.

"One."

Hikaru straightened up and backed away, staring at me in a strange way. I couldn't say there was fear there, or even hatred like I would expect. It was almost like respect.

I fell back into character and beamed sweetly up at the twins. They looked astonished, but I pretended not to notice.

"Thank you, Hikaru," I said, furthering their surprise. "I believe I will see you after school before you begin hosting." The twins took this as a dismissal and went back to their seats, obviously whispering to each other.

After all the other students arrived and the teacher began her lesson, a note much like the one I had received the day before landed on my desk. This time, I decided to save it for later, slipping it into my bag allowing my mind to drift once again.

I got through the day blindly, not paying attention to the teacher or the students around me. I took my time gathering my things at the end of class so that I was the last one to leave the room. I didn't want to deal with anyone stopping to chat with me, one of the three mysterious commoner girls.

I was the first one to arrive at the doors this time, and I stood outside waiting for Kiyumi and Tsukiko to show up. Tsukiko came next, and she greeted me tiredly.

"Did they bother you?" she asked in a protective tone. I smiled and shook my head, a couple strands of hair falling in my face. I scolded myself mentally for lying, but then excused it. I had taken care of it, and Tsukiko didn't need to worry about me more than she already did.

"Did Mori and Honey say anything to you?" I questioned back, curiously looking the way Kiyumi had come down the hall yesterday. She should have definitely been here by now.

"No, they didn't," she responded with a tired sigh. "Where is Kiyumi? We agreed we were going to meet right here outside the door before they began hosting." She shook her head angrily. "Whatever, let's go in without her, it isn't as if she's going to be a whole lot of help anyway."

Before I could begin to protest, Tsukiko slammed the doors open. I gasped as she did, not really believing my eyes.

Kiyumi was standing with Tamaki, obviously flirting happily. I gulped and looked at Tsukiko, then looked away and whimpered. I couldn't even remember the last time I had seen her that angry.

_It's motherly rage, that's all_, I thought to myself. _It can't be that bad_.

"Kiyumi," Tsukiko growled, her voice low. Kiyumi looked up and grinned, an evil glint in her eye.

"Yes, _sister?_" she asked in a falsely sweet tone.

Tsukiko strode forward, almost knocking me over. I started falling backward when I felt a hand on each elbow. I looked up and saw Mori standing there, looking stoic as ever.

"Thanks," I said quietly. I turned my eyes to see Tsukiko reaching Kiyumi, and Tamaki looking scared behind her.

"Kiyumi, you do realize that in ditching our plans you have betrayed Hotaru and I as your sisters. We always put each other, our sisters, before some stupid little boy," she stated. Tamaki got an offended look on his face.

"Hey, wait a minute, princesses-" He started toward them, but Tsukiko put one arm straight out with her palm facing out. The boy ran right into it, falling over. Tamaki looked up at the girl, shocked.

"Tsukiko!" Kiyumi yelled, enraged now. "How _dare_ you? What I do and who I hang out with are things that are my decision, _not yours_. We didn't _make plans_ to meet up, you _told_ us to. I won't let you push me around like Hotaru does." My head shot up but I decided now was not the time to defend myself. "If one of us had slipped up-"

"- If one of you had slipped up?" Tsukiko interrupted coldly. She gave a harsh laugh. "Have you already forgotten your little _mistake_ in Paris? And don't _even_ bring Hotaru into this, this is between you and me. Have you already forgotten everything I've given up for you two over the last ten years? I made sure you got food and that we had a place to stay. I made sure you had a nice bed to sleep on even if it meant I slept on the floor. I made sure you had the clothes and toys you wanted. I made sure there was still Christmas for us, even when we had to stay with Luke to make sure we didn't freeze. I lost my _childhood_ in doing all that for you. Sometimes, I wish I'd never even _bothered_ taking care of you two." There was a collective intake of breath. I could hear Tsukiko gasp, but I didn't bother waiting for an explanation for that.

I didn't even really think about all that until I head the big doors softly shut behind me, and then my own footsteps echoing through the hall.

_**Kiyumi's Point of View**_

My mouth fell open as Tsukiko stood there, hands over her mouth. The Host Club had gone and hidden on the other side of the couch, watching us. I could feel them holding their breath. I heard someone start to say something, but they were quickly shushed.

"Hotaru?" Tsukiko spun around to find empty space there. That couldn't be good, not at all, because Hotaru never ran out on a fight. If anything, she'd jump in when someone went too far.

Tsukiko turned back around, and I made sure my face was expressionless. I just shook my head at her shamefully. "We will discuss this later," she said breathlessly before running out. I looked down, still feeling the club members' eyes on me.

"Kiyumi?" Tamaki softly asked. I looked up, but only for a second before returning my gaze to the floor.

"What?" I ground out.

"Would you like to explain to us what just happened?" he questioned, his voice soft.

"Yeah, because it sounds like that girl does a lot for you two," one of the twins started.

"It seems like you're a very ungrateful person, Kiyumi," the other finished.

I didn't answer.

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	5. Finders Keepers

**CheaterCheaterCupcakeEater: Second chapter of the night! :D I really enjoyed working on this one :) So, review for the extra hard work? :) Thanks! :D**

**pinkfire101: I WANT TO POST ANOTHER CHAPTER! :D (CheaterCheaterCupcakeEater: She's threatening to eat all of the 100 lollipops she has so that she can stay awake and help me write the chapter. She enjoyed this one too. :) A little too much :P) Hey, this is a very emotional chapter. So, read and REVIEW! :D**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Ouran, just the characters of our own creation.**

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><p><em><strong>Kiyumi's Point of View<strong>_

"Hikaru! Kaoru!" Tamaki shouted at them. "Now is not the time to berate this princess!" I almost laughed; even after an extremely embarrassing fight, Tamaki still tried to be princely.

"It's okay, Kiyu-chan. I don't think you're ungrateful," said the little blonde boy sweetly. I half laughed, half sobbed at that.

"You're making it worse!" Tamaki yelled, losing his calm appearance. Honey's eyes welled up.

"Mitsukuni, I think now is a good time for some cake," Mori said. Honey perked up.

"Cake?" he asked excitedly, looking up at Mori. When the taller boy nodded, he ran off giggling cutely. I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"Kiyumi, what did she mean when she said she'd been taking care of you for ten years?" Haruhi questioned gently. I sniffled and started to talk, but was then interrupted.

"Yes, I was going to ask the same thing. That is an interesting statement on Tsukiko's part. If she has been taking care of you for ten years, then she was eight when she started taking care of you and Hotaru, who were seven and six at the time," Kyoya said, almost to himself. I nodded.

"Well, she didn't do it by herself, but yes, she took the majority of the responsibility. When we were six, seven, and eight years old, our parents were killed while we were hidden in a closet. They were having a dinner party and we were playing upstairs, when all six of them ran up screaming to hide, so Tsukiko hid us and tried to keep us from seeing and hearing as much as she could. She did a good job. Hotaru barely remembers the incident, and it's all fuzzy for me." I paused to sniffle again. "Since then, we've either been on our own or living at the houses of different family friends."

There was a stunned silence. Hikaru and Kaoru looked down and began mumbling to each other, not looking very happy about something. Kyoya pushed his glasses further up his nose making the glare shift so that his eyes could not be seen. Honey paused with a bite of cake halfway to his mouth, and Mori sat still as always. Haruhi's head tilted to the side, and Tamaki's mouth opened as if to speak.

"Kiyu-chan, why did you move from house to house?" Honey asked, his voice serious.

Kiyumi let out a bitter laugh. "They didn't want us."

"How could they not want you?" This next question came from Haruhi.

"They would let us in, but then tell us we had to come up with our own food and stay out of the house during the day, and we were never allowed to be seen with any of them in broad daylight. We were a liability," she scoffed. Silence fell once again.

"So, what, you're going to let them get further away?" one of the twins asked, the same one that started their last statement.

"After all that, I can't believe you're not running after them," the other one spat nastily.

"You don't have _any_ clue about what you're talking about. Stay the hell out. Leaving now and going anywhere but home and waiting would be absurd," she snapped at them, and they went back to looking very interested in their shoes.

"I have sent out notifications that club activities are cancelled for the day. I fear that everyone is too bothered by today's events and will not be able to fully entertain our clients," Kyoya announced suddenly. There were murmurs around the room, but no one said anything.

"So, what are we going to do?"

_**Tsukiko's Point of View**_

I tore out of the room, mind racing. She couldn't have gotten that far. Surely she would just go home. After all, I was the one who taught her how to hide her whereabouts. I had to be able to find her. I couldn't simply be fooled by my own tricks.

But as I took off down the nearest hallway, I couldn't find any traces. Nothing. No echoes of footsteps, no dropped articles, not even a mark from a shoe.

As I exited the campus, I had to stop for a moment and think about where I would search first. My safest bet was to head home. If she was planning on leaving, she would stop by there to regroup and get together some things. But if she wasn't planning on that at all, she'd still go home, because where else did she have to go? We'd only lived here for a few days, and we'd only gotten out of the house to go to school and grocery shopping.

I slammed the door to the apartment open, yelling, "Hotaru?" No answer came back to me. I threw opened the bathroom door. "Hotaru?" I called yet again. I started getting desperate now. I nearly broke Kiyumi's doorknob. "Hotaru!"

I was answered with the echo of my own voice. _Screw covers_, I thought to myself, kicking her door until it opened. "Natalia?"

The room was empty, her bed made messily like it always was. Her desk was cluttered with books and papers and whatever else she had used in the last three days. Her fan was left on and she still had random articles of clothing strewn everywhere from deciding what she was going to wear this morning. Typical Natalia.

_Flashback_

_"Aria," I heard my father call out. An eight year old me ran into his study, where my mother and father, Bella's parents, and Natalia's parents all sat. They had serious looks on their faces, but attempted to smile at me as I ran into the room._

_But I wasn't stupid._

_"What's wrong?" I asked when I got halfway into the room. It was obvious I wanted to step back, but I never walked out of a room right after my parents had called me._

_"Sweetie," my mother started as she knelt down in front of me, giving me a smile that looked sad in a way that I couldn't understand at the time. "We have a very important job for you."_

_"Oh, that's all?" I perked up. _

_"We need you to promise all of us something right now," Natalia's mother said, wringing her hands and looking worriedly at her husband._

_"Sure, but don't make me promise to do something I can't. Daddy said that it's the worst sin to break a promise," I stated, in a matter of fact tone._

_"No, we're sure you can do this. Positive," Bella's father reassured her._

_"Okay, then what is it, Mommy?" I asked, looking up at her with wide eyes._

_"If anything happens to us, all of us, and we aren't here to take care of you, we need you to promise that you will do everything in your power to take care of Bella and Natalia, and the other younger children," she told me, holding my arms._

_"Oh Mommy, that's a big thing to do..." My little voice trailed off._

_"You'll have help," Natalia's mother spoke again._

_"Friends of ours will help you if and when they can," her husband continued for her._

_"But know that some of them won't want to help you; some of them are very, very afraid right now," Bella's father spoke up._

_"Why?" I questioned, suddenly feeling scared. There was a crawling feeling in my stomach and an icy chill on my back. I wanted them all to just stop talking right now, because whatever bad thing was going to happen wouldn't if they just didn't speak of it any more._

_My father came to kneel down next to my mother. He started quietly. _

_"Some people, when opportunity is given to them, will show great bravery and prove themselves capable of making the right choice. Others will reveal great cowardice and the ability to protect none but themselves."_

_I nodded, even thought at eight years of age I couldn't fully grasp what he just said, but the words stuck._

_"Okay, I promise."_

_End of Flashback_

I leaned on her doorway, not sure of where to go from there, but only knowing one thing.

"I _refuse_ to break that promise."

_**Hotaru's Point of View**_

I ran out of school with no intention of going home. I was fully aware that home was the first place that anyone would look for me. That's where I'd always been told to go, and I was the best at following orders.

But I took off in the opposite direction, heading away from town. There had to be some kind of nature trail nearby, with a forest I could get lost in for a little while. I planned on going home, but not until I was good and ready to do so.

Finally, I came to a trail used by hikers. I jogged along that until it came to a fork in the path. In one direction, it was paved and obviously more used. The other was dirt and seemed to wind through the forest. I took the dirt path, thinking about how Tsukiko would lecture me if she was here.

_"What do you think you're doing?"_ she would demand. _"If something happens, you won't have a signal and no one will be able to find you for quite a while. This is not a good idea for you to be here alone."_

I smiled and picked up the pace. I was so lost in thought that I didn't see the medium sized branch around me until my foot was caught under it, and I had pulled up with all my might. Of course that sent me to the ground, face first, with a smarting ankle.

"I'll be damned," I mumbled to myself. "The one time I do something against the rules and I sprain an ankle. _Fantastic_."

I checked myself for damage from the spot where I had fallen. My left ankle was useless at the moment, my right elbow was skinned, and I had managed to hit my cheek on a rock.

I sighed, pulling out my phone. Of course the lecture I'd imagined had been correct. There was no signal.

I struggled to get myself into a steady position to crawl, then continued down along the path. Hopefully there would be something on the other side, or maybe a spot where my phone could get some signal. I was already too far down the path to turn around now, the most I could do was go a little further.

The sound of rushing water reached my ears. "At least if I'm stranded I'll have a supply of water," I grumbled to myself. As I continued I started hearing splashes that couldn't be from any waterfall or fish. I started grinning and trying to speed up my crawl, hoping to see someone who could help me, or at least bring help to me.

I rounded a last corner, I saw a tall, dirty blonde man with his back to me in swimming trunks, the rest of his clothes laying out on the riverbank. The water came up to his knees, and it rushed around him.

"Hey!" I yelled, wanting him to turn around. Over the sound of water he must not have heard me, so I screamed this time, louder, "Hey!" He turned around so fast that he almost fell over, and I started laughing, I was so surprised.

"Luke?" I choked out as he made his way to me. I fell over sideways, my arms and legs tired.

"Hey, Firecracker," he answered, half laughing. "Looks like you got yourself pretty cut up."

I ignored his statement. "Why are you here? I thought you were still in Australia, with your family. I thought you said they needed you there."

His grin was lopsided. "They told me to take a few months off. I decided to come to Japan. It's supposed to be relaxing here. But now that you girls have entered the country, I guess it'll be anything but." He laughed again.

"Yeah, I guess that's true..." I trailed off thoughtfully, and his green eyes turned serious again.

"Are you here alone?" he questioned, concerned. I nodded, biting my lip. He could be as bad as Tsukiko some times.

He looked me over, and I knew he was checking for other, less than obvious injuries. He discovered my ankle almost immediately.

"You're still as clumsy as always," he chuckled. "Now, lets get that cut on your cheek washed up, then I'll take you home. I walked here, so unfortunately, I'll just have to walk you home," he informed me with a glint in his eye. I tilted my head curiously at him.

"But I can't walk..." I answered, confused. He smirked at me and nodded slowly. "Oh..." I couldn't help blushing. Then again, I couldn't think of anybody who wouldn't blush. Not everyone got a tall, dirty blonde, tan Australian with green eyes and a hobby of working out telling her they were going to carry her home. I decided that I deserved this moment.

"Come along now, Miss," he said, making his accent more prominent as he picked me up and carried me over to the water. He helped me lower my face to the water so that he could wash the cut on my cheek.

"You should know, I go by Hotaru now. Aria goes by Tsukiko and Bella is called Kiyumi," I informed him. He nodded.

"I figured you'd go by different names." He paused, bringing my elbow down to the water and rinsing that off too. "Are you going to tell me what happened that caused you to be in the forest, alone?"

"Tsukiko and Kiyumi got into a fight. Tsukiko said that she wished she'd never bothered taking care of us. I just... I don't want to be a burden. I try really hard to keep Tsukiko from worrying about things, but apparently it hasn't been working..."

"That's stupid," he stated bluntly. I felt my forehead crease, and I tilted my head, even though that meant that half my hair went in the water. "If you _were_ nothing but a burden, she would have ditched both of you when you were capable of taking care of yourselves. Right now, you're just frustrated because you know you've allowed her to take care of you because you know that's what she needs. She needs to feel needed, and you allow her to think you need her so that she still feels in control, and you have a sense that you're not alone. Everyone wins."

I stared at him in shocked silence. "How did you know that?"

"It's obvious. You just chose to be oblivious." He lifted me up again then, bridal style.

"You don't know where I live," I mumbled. I felt myself getting sleepy, and since he was warm and I had worn myself out, it was hard to not fall asleep.

"Well, I'm going to need you to tell me, love," he whispered, aware of the fact that I was falling asleep.

I murmured the address, becoming more and more incoherent with each word. He laughed quietly, and that was the last thing I heard before falling asleep.

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><p><strong>So did you like it? :) Review with whatever comments you have on this chapter, or predictions on whatever you think will happen next! We bet that you can't guess :P Now, REVIEW, or my grumpy chihuahua will attack you! :P<strong>


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